Tilt Poker
Some days, it just seems like you can’t do anything right. You can’t hit a flop to save your life, none of your big draws materialize and all of your big pocket pairs get cracked. These are the times that try poker players’ souls, to paraphrase Thomas Paine. When you’re ‘running bad’ (on a losing streak), the tendency to tilt is stronger than at any other time. But it’s very possible to tilt when you’re winning as well, so we’re going to take a brief look at tilt and how to avoid and deal with it.
Tilt is allowing your emotional state to affect your play. Happy, sad, angry, depressed, nervous – all of these are emotional states that can induce tilt. Any time you allow your mood to alter the way you would normally play a hand, you are on tilt.
We most frequently refer to tilt as something that happens to players when they are angry or upset, but first let’s look at the most insidious form of tilt – happy tilt. Many players, after winning a big pot, will play the next few hands regardless of their starting cards. This is often referred to as ‘playing the rush’, but it is really a form of tilt.
A player, who would never play Jack-6 off suit from middle position, but decides to limp in just to ‘play the rush’, is on tilt. It’s a happy tilt, it’s often a very pleasant type of tilt, but it is also often a very expensive form of tilt.
It is possible to throw away hours worth of winnings just by making a few loose calls while on ‘happy tilt’. Some players work as hard at inducing happy tilt among their opponents as others work at making players angry. The net result is the same: looser play and eventual mistakes.
Be wary of happy tilt, because whether you’ve induced it in yourself or been lured into it by a chatty neighbor, there is no doubt that the loose, ‘friendly’ calls you make are just as expensive as the loose calls you make when you are angry.
Angry players are the players we typically refer to as being ‘on tilt’. When a player is angry, they may curse, throw chips, mutter under their breath, fling cards at the dealer’s hands, or exhibit any number of rude behaviors. But those actions don’t typically cost a player money. A player’s bankroll suffers from tilt when the player begins to make calls that he/she wouldn’t ordinarily make due to their emotional state.
Often, an angry player is raising out of anger, compounding their mistakes and doing further damage to their bankroll. The angry player’s actions feed on themselves, creating a vicious cycle of tilt, raise, call, lose, and tilt. Angry players are not fun to be around, and have a tendency to spread their tilt to their table-mates, but their anger can be your profit if you pay attention and take advantage of their loose bets and raises.
Resigned players are the sad players on tilt. They have lost so many times to the turn of the cards that they feel they are predestined to lose. Resigned players are often quiet, calling every bet then folding on the river. They have suffered enough bad beats that all aggression is missing from their game, and will rarely raise or re-raise, even with premium hands. Resigned players are also referred to as weak-passive players, and can be taken advantage of with correctly timed raises and steal attempts.
So how do you avoid tilt? It’s almost impossible to have complete control of your emotions, especially for a novice player. Some very famous pros have made their reputations on their behavior and their tendency to tilt. If multiple WSOP champions are still susceptible to tilt, it’s quite likely that you will not be able to totally erase tilt from your game, either.
[banner 23/]The key is not necessarily avoiding tilt, but recognizing it, and not allowing your game to be affected by it. If you find yourself angry at the table, step away. It sounds simple, but it is the most effective method of gathering your thoughts and settling your emotions. Simply stand up from the table and walk around for a few minutes. The game will still be going on when you return, and in a calmer state of mind you can avoid more of the mistakes or bad luck that made you angry in the first place.
When you find yourself falling prey to ‘happy tilt’, make a conscious effort to tighten up your game. Don’t allow yourself to chase ‘the rush’, simply play your most solid game and you will rake in more chips. If you find yourself resigned to losing everything in front of you, rack up and leave for the night.
If you’re convinced you will lose, you’re probably right. Poker is a game that, like golf, is played primarily above the shoulders, so having the right mindset to play is critical to your success. Remember that your poker career is one long session and you will not be judged solely on your performance today. Keep your head, keep your temper, and you will keep your money.
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